Read Online Beyond all Limits by J. T. Brannan - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: J. T. Brannan
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carrier group to back off, or else.’
Abrams sighed. ‘What can we do? The threat is clear – back off, or he kills the Ford for real, and we lose more than four thousand of our people; there’s no way we could get to it in time, repair it, offload the personnel, before he could blow it clean out of the water.’
‘Added to which,’ Olsen said, ‘he seems to have gained effective control over the entire military – China has naval and air superiority in the area, and we daren’t make a move just yet. The risks are too great, and we’d stand to lose a great deal more besides.’
‘Could we offload the crew via sub?’ Cole asked. The US Navy was still the world leader in silent, stealthy submarine technology.
Olsen shook his head. ‘Not a chance,’ he said. ‘From surveillance footage and the Ford ’s own eyeball reports, the Chinese navy’s got those waters sealed up tight as a drum. There’s no way we’d get a sub anywhere close to the Ford .’
‘Have we targeted their missile units on the mainland?’
Again, Olsen answered the question. ‘We’ve got the coordinates typed in and ready to go,’ he said. ‘But the trouble with the DF is that most of the missiles are mobile – we have no way of knowing where they are, moment to moment. We just can’t risk attacking the mainland without better intel – and maybe not even then.’
Cole could tell it grated the general to talk this way, defeatism not being in his nature; but facts were facts, and had to be faced.
‘There’s also the additional factor of China’s ex-pat population,’ said dos Santos. ‘China’s last census claimed well over seventy thousand Americans are currently living in China, many of them in and around Beijing. And Wu has temporarily suspended all flights out of the country.’
‘So they’re all trapped there?’ Cole asked.
Abrams nodded. ‘Except for the few who got out early, and those who have travelled overland or by boat; not many, at any rate. And the figures are probably conservative anyway – our own numbers suggest over one hundred thousand, and that’s not taking into consideration all the other people who live there – vast numbers of Koreans and Europeans for starters.’
‘Wu claims that air travel will resume soon,’ dos Santos said, ‘he claims nobody is being held hostage, anyone is free to leave overland if they wish, but outbound flights have been cancelled due to what he calls ‘security issues’ during the transfer of power to the new government.’
‘But they’re being held hostage, just the same as the crew of the Ford ,’ Cole said, the severity of the situation becoming clear to him. ‘Wu knows we’ll never attack the mainland while we’ve got so many of our own people there.’
‘Exactly. So what can we do?’ Abrams said with a shrug of her shoulders. ‘We can’t target Beijing, and we’ve had to pull back from the East China Sea, leave the Ford stranded. The only other option would lead to war, and the ramifications of war with China would be enormous. Besides which, we have no idea how strong the Wu government is – does it have the support necessary to govern long-term? Or will it crumble of its own accord? If it does that , then we might not need to do anything at all. We need time.’
‘What’s his game plan?’ Cole wondered aloud. ‘His end-game? What’s he after?’
‘In the first instance, we think it’s the Senkaku Islands,’ dos Santos said, opening the manila file and sliding across the latest satellite images of the area. As the Director of National Intelligence, dos Santos had access to information developed by every agency in the US government. She was young for the job at forty, but had already proven herself more than capable and – perhaps even more importantly – loyal.
Cole looked down, although he didn’t really need to; he knew what the Senkaukus looked like, they had been a major bone of contention between China and Japan for
Abrams sighed. ‘What can we do? The threat is clear – back off, or he kills the Ford for real, and we lose more than four thousand of our people; there’s no way we could get to it in time, repair it, offload the personnel, before he could blow it clean out of the water.’
‘Added to which,’ Olsen said, ‘he seems to have gained effective control over the entire military – China has naval and air superiority in the area, and we daren’t make a move just yet. The risks are too great, and we’d stand to lose a great deal more besides.’
‘Could we offload the crew via sub?’ Cole asked. The US Navy was still the world leader in silent, stealthy submarine technology.
Olsen shook his head. ‘Not a chance,’ he said. ‘From surveillance footage and the Ford ’s own eyeball reports, the Chinese navy’s got those waters sealed up tight as a drum. There’s no way we’d get a sub anywhere close to the Ford .’
‘Have we targeted their missile units on the mainland?’
Again, Olsen answered the question. ‘We’ve got the coordinates typed in and ready to go,’ he said. ‘But the trouble with the DF is that most of the missiles are mobile – we have no way of knowing where they are, moment to moment. We just can’t risk attacking the mainland without better intel – and maybe not even then.’
Cole could tell it grated the general to talk this way, defeatism not being in his nature; but facts were facts, and had to be faced.
‘There’s also the additional factor of China’s ex-pat population,’ said dos Santos. ‘China’s last census claimed well over seventy thousand Americans are currently living in China, many of them in and around Beijing. And Wu has temporarily suspended all flights out of the country.’
‘So they’re all trapped there?’ Cole asked.
Abrams nodded. ‘Except for the few who got out early, and those who have travelled overland or by boat; not many, at any rate. And the figures are probably conservative anyway – our own numbers suggest over one hundred thousand, and that’s not taking into consideration all the other people who live there – vast numbers of Koreans and Europeans for starters.’
‘Wu claims that air travel will resume soon,’ dos Santos said, ‘he claims nobody is being held hostage, anyone is free to leave overland if they wish, but outbound flights have been cancelled due to what he calls ‘security issues’ during the transfer of power to the new government.’
‘But they’re being held hostage, just the same as the crew of the Ford ,’ Cole said, the severity of the situation becoming clear to him. ‘Wu knows we’ll never attack the mainland while we’ve got so many of our own people there.’
‘Exactly. So what can we do?’ Abrams said with a shrug of her shoulders. ‘We can’t target Beijing, and we’ve had to pull back from the East China Sea, leave the Ford stranded. The only other option would lead to war, and the ramifications of war with China would be enormous. Besides which, we have no idea how strong the Wu government is – does it have the support necessary to govern long-term? Or will it crumble of its own accord? If it does that , then we might not need to do anything at all. We need time.’
‘What’s his game plan?’ Cole wondered aloud. ‘His end-game? What’s he after?’
‘In the first instance, we think it’s the Senkaku Islands,’ dos Santos said, opening the manila file and sliding across the latest satellite images of the area. As the Director of National Intelligence, dos Santos had access to information developed by every agency in the US government. She was young for the job at forty, but had already proven herself more than capable and – perhaps even more importantly – loyal.
Cole looked down, although he didn’t really need to; he knew what the Senkaukus looked like, they had been a major bone of contention between China and Japan for
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